


The Cost of a Friendship

by rbreea



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Gen, Good Draco Malfoy, Love Triangles, Multi, Redeemed Draco Malfoy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-06 17:47:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26252890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rbreea/pseuds/rbreea
Summary: Vernon Dursley finally snaps, and Harry finds himself on the brink of death, desperate for an escape.Draco Malfoy finds himself unable to feel any hatred towards Harry Potter, and he doesn’t quite know why...
Relationships: Draco Malfoy/Harry Potter, Harry Potter/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy, Hermione Granger/Ginny Weasley, Hermione Granger/Ron Weasley, Luna Lovegood/Draco Malfoy, Luna Lovegood/Ginny Weasley
Comments: 1
Kudos: 43





	The Cost of a Friendship

“BOY!” 

Harry jolted upright in his bed, cringing at his uncle’s deafening yell. He didn’t have to move very far though, because about five seconds later, he heard giant booming footsteps stalking towards his bedroom door, and stopping just outside. 

The locks clicked, one by one, as Vernon Dursley opened Harry Potter’s door, his face nearly purple from rage. “I’VE HAD IT!! YOUR BLOODY FRIENDS SENDING YOU THINGS BY BIRD! DO YOU KNOW WHAT JUST HAPPENED, BOY?” 

Harry sat on his bed, with a strange, twisted sort of expression on his face. “I suppose you’ll tell me,” he replied, nonplussed. 

“I WAS OUTSIDE TALKING WITH MISS STIGGS, AND THIS RUDDY OWL CAME FLYING FOR MY HEAD!!”

Harry glanced down to Mr. Dursley’s rather large hand and saw that he was indeed holding a very frightened owl, with a letter still tied to its ankle. He met his uncle’s eyes once more, and was vaguely frightened of the pure unbridled rage he saw there. It was anger like he had never seen from Vernon Dursley. He slowly shrank back onto his bed.

Vernon took a few steadying breaths and let the poor owl drop to the floor, flopping around awkwardly and trying to get itself back to its feet. “Do you know what Miss Stiggs said when she saw that bloody bird, boy?”

Harry stared at his uncle, waiting for the verbal blow that would soon be coming his way.

Vernon didn’t ever tell Harry what Miss Stiggs had said though, because in the next moment, Harry did indeed receive a blow. But it was in no way a verbal one.

Mr. Dursley swung his arm forward and let his fist connect with his nephew’s face. Harry’s glasses flew across the room and shattered upon impact with the dresser. For a very short moment, there was complete silence as Mr. Dursley stared in shock at what he had just done, and as Harry brought a hand slowly to his face, in shock at what his uncle had just done. 

But that moment ended quickly, and Mr. Dursley lunged again, bringing his anger out on poor Harry Potter. 

Mrs. Dursley and Dudley Dursley stood in the doorway, not speaking, not moving, but simply staring at their husband and father, speechless. Thoughtless. Emotionless. He had never done anything like this before, and this sudden burst was quite a shock for them. 

After silently watching for a few minutes, Mrs. Dursley began to yell at her husband, begging him to stop, telling him he would kill the boy. Harry was already much to small and thin for his age, not quite fourteen (14), and if he had to endure any more of this abuse, he might not live to see another year at Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry. 

—

When Vernon had finally listened to Petunia and stopped, Harry was lying bloody on his bedroom floor, Hedwig, having just got back from a hunt, was screeching and pecking at Harry gently to try to help him, the messenger owl was also screeching in its place on the floor next to Harry, and the Dursley’s were sitting in the living room downstairs, silently debating how to handle this without bringing unwanted attention to their house and lives. 

Harry was on the brink of passing out in pain, but he slowly brought his arms beneath him, pushed up, and dragged himself to his desk. With a bloody hand, he grabbed a spare piece of parchment and a quill and wrote out a short letter as quickly as he could. Hedwig held out her leg on instinct, and let Harry tie the letter to her ankle. 

“Get to the Burrow, Hedwig. Get it to Ron, or Mrs. Weasley, or anyone. If you can’t find them, then.... Just get it to someone I can trust. Please hurry Hedwig,” and with that, Harry passed out on his bedroom floor, covered in blood, and much too close to death than he should have been.

—

Hedwig flew fast, knowing Harry was close to death, knowing that she had to find someone who could help him. After flying hard and fast for the next hours, she landed at the kitchen window of the Burrow. She pecked at the glass, looking inside to find any of the Weasleys. But the house was dark, and there was no one in sight. She flew around back to see if they were outside playing Quidditch, but there was no one there. The Burrow was empty, and the Weasley’s were nowhere to be found. 

Hedwig, being quite the intelligent bird, knew she did not have time to try to hunt down the Weasley family, so she began to fly straight for the next person she knew could help Harry. 

—

Draco Malfoy was sitting on a comfortable chair in the back yard of his family manor, reading a book with an interesting passage on the effects of the Draught of Living Death. The sun was shinning brightly overhead, and the wind was wildly rustling the leaves of the nearby trees. That is likely the reason that Draco didn’t hear the owl flying towards him until she was on top of him.

“Ow! Bloody bird! What the-“ he looked closely at the frantic owl, and realized he recognized it. The second thing he realized, was the fact that there was blood covering her feet and feathers. She pecked at his wrist to grab his attention, and thrust out her ankle to get him to take the letter tied to it.

Draco untied the parchment, grimacing at the blood stained on it, and unrolled it. 

“Help me. Please just get me out. Number Four (4), Privet Drive, Little Whinging, Surrey. Please hurry, mate. -Harry”

Draco furrowed his brows and read through the letter twice more, while the owl continued to frantically peck at his wrists, urging him to hurry. 

He stood up, scaring the poor bird even more, and ran inside to find his parents.

—

“Draco, I already told you, we cannot go and find Harry Potter, no matter what your silly letter-“

“Lucius, listen to him! Harry needs help, and quite urgently from the looks of that letter.” 

Draco paced up and down the hallway, Harry’s letter still clutched in his hand, listening to his mother and father bicker about what they were to do for Harry. He found he didn’t care about their petty feud that had been between them since they were in their first year at Hogwarts. He saw the blood, and found that all he cared about was making sure Harry was okay, making sure he was safe. 

Draco looked around at the room they were standing in. The Malfoy Manor was a very large, and very spacious house, and if his father didn’t want to deal with Harry Potter, he probably wouldn’t have to. He could just stay on the other side of the manor, and keep clear of the room where they kept Harry. 

When Draco told this to his father, though, it didn’t seem to help his case in the slightest. 

“NO, Draco! I will not-“

“That is enough Lucius! The boy needs help, and I don’t care what you say. We will help him!” Narcissa turned and stalked towards her son, holding out her hand. “Give me the letter, Draco.” 

Hesitant, Draco placed the folded letter in her palm, and watched her unfold and read it through once more. Without a backwards glance at her husband, Narcissa apparated with a loud popping noise, disappearing from the house. Lucius turned his fury to his son.

“When she gets back here, just know, Draco, if she has the boy with her... You and I will be having some words.” With that, he turned on his heal and strode out of the room, leaving Draco alone and slightly nervous about what was to come.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This chapter is very short, I know, but they will be longer.... Hopefully.... anyways kudos and comments are always appreciated :)


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